..This study casts light on the role of HLA-DRB1*15 in disease outcome and highlights the powerful approach of using microscopic pathology to clarify the way in which genes and clinical phenotypes of neurological diseases are linked...

..The characterization of the nature of axonal loss in HSP, where this is a primary phenomenon, may help the interpretation of axonal loss in conditions such as multiple sclerosis where the sequence of events is less clear...